Dusty, Sutton, Lefebvre...it's like a reunion at the yard

Cy Arroyo will probably shut us out but I love the lineup.

i don't know. our lefties Either and Loney hit righies pretty good.

"Crank right knee." Translation: Couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat.

HAHA nice one dude on Druw!

All the guys memtioned were great Dodgers except Cey was in the 70"s. Lefrv was a great one till he broke his leg... that hurt his career.

Coments were great yeaterday about who should go. Starting with Ned must go! We know Jones cn't go to AAA without his okay or we'll lose him. Big deal.. he's fat *** his taking up space.
Ned'd big time bad moves haqve hurt big time...Bennet, Sweeny are terrible. How about last years move. Liberta is a nice guy but that was a terrible signing. Smit is another.

Garv was my favorite Dodger and I was only 5 when he became a damn Padre. I guess I was a fan of him more off the field HAHA. I did love him beating the Cubs in 84.

I boycotted the games this weekend because they are illegal interleague games, and are morally bankrupt. And frankly, as a Dodger fan, we get the short end of the stick--we always play the Angels, which has become a consistently good team (thanks, in no small part, to the idiots at Fox, who let Mike Scioscia go), while others play the Royals or the Rangers.
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I did, however, read some of the posts and there is a certain frustration out there.
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Without being an apologist for management, would anyone make out a very different line-up card? If I were Joe Torre, all the names on the card would be the same--I might move Kent down, and Loney and Kemp up. I probably would still have Pierre lead off (with the understanding that when Furcal comes back, he goes back to hitting 8th).
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Also, are there many differences with the roster? Except for Pierre (and again, I have no problem with him as a 4th outfielder--my problem is that he gets too much playing time ahead of Kemp and Ethier), I would probably have the same roster. If Blake DeWitt or Andy LaRoche could play second base, I might have both of them up (and, at a certain point, I might start them ahead of Kent).
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The Jones deal has not turned out well, and we are approaching the point when it can be called a bust. But I admit that there is a good chance that I would have made that deal over the winter (provided, of course, that it was clear we were just willing to have a very expensive 4th outfielder).
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And some folks want to bring up Clayton Kershaw (we're all anxious to see him in Los Angeles), but I would probably let him develop in Jacksonville for as long as I could hold out this year (to save his arm for the next 10 years)--and however it shakes out, our 5th starter has not been the problem.
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So, aside from the fact that we have spent some lost cash (Loazia, Jones, Pierre, Nomar), we have mostly the 25-man roster I would want and mostly the every-day line-up I would want.
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I agree that it has not been perfect, and some of Torre's managing decisions have, and continue, to perplexed me. And, our starting pitching has NOT been doing what we expected it would (Penny's ERA is double what it was at this time a year ago). But this is a good and exciting Dodgers team, and it's very near what we all usually say we want to see. And while I hate to put the comparison to 2006 (because I want us to do BETTER), I think it's ultimately accurate--that team took a while to come together, and this one is taking a while too. But, I think when it does it will be poised to win the division and the pennant, and will set the table for years to come.

It's not that the overall roster is a problem, but when management spends 41 million dollars on 4 players that have a combined slug of .330 it's a huge problem.

The Joneses, The Kent's, The Pierre's, The Nomars..I wouldnt have problems with individually, but collectively managemeant we have structured our team to where they are all expected to play big roles (table setter and run scorer and suppossed run producers) and they are all well, well below whats needed.

Same thing as last year. Young guys are just to young and learning how to play consistently and the old guys are dragging down the ship with their poor production. If Kent was named Abreu and Jones was named Ethier, bith would have been riding pine months ago. If Nomar was named LaRoche he wouldnt even ever come of the DL.

Now soon, Jones knee will progress to DL to spare himself and the dodgers the embarrassment of having their two highest paid players on the team combine for 0 wins and 2hr so far in 08

I am so sick of it.

Baker, Cey, Lefebvre, Sutton(although I hate opponant broadcasters, even former Dodger HOFers)) You got quite a crew there.
I see according to tonight's lineup Torre is beginning to see the light, "crank right knee" and all.
In my worthless assessment I think the Dodgers have improve a lot over the past several years.
Except for the starting pitching, but especially the offense.
I think the only problem is the competition improved a little more.
But I have confidence we're getting there.
GO DODGERS!!!

I forgot to add we lack some general managing.

Nice lineup considering. Penny looks terrible so far. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night. Here we go again.

Also, why Jeff Kent can't bat anywhere but cleanup is a mystery ot me.

Penny Sucks big time

Nice job getting out of that inning Brad! Now let's get that one back plus a few more!

Only one run so that's a good start.

Could it be that opponent pitchers know exactly what pitch the Dodgers are looking for?
We seem to be hitting early in the count.

The Reds may be out hitting us but they are not out fielding us.

SO far, this is bad.
That was a good play by Hu on a ball Penny almost reached out for and could've hurt his hand.
Another nice play by Loney.

Lets see some power Dodgers

Rats!!®

Aroyo may have an era of 6 but looks like we will help him lower that tonight.

Penny's long day's journey into night continues...

Note to Ned - Unless he improves dramatically over the course of the season, don't pick-up his option.

Well, I'm glad we have our Ace going for us tonight.
You say "We have no Ace".
You're right, of course.
That is too bad - each team deserves at least one Ace; a few lucky ones have two.

At this point, why not give Meloan a try?

And don't bother calling up Kershaw until September to get his feet wet - this team's not going anywhere anyway.

Right now he is our 4 of Clubs.

Penny absolutely sucks. I subscribed to MLB.TV this year and was so looking forward to seeing all the Dodger games as I live in Waterloo, Illinois. A few more games like we've been playing and I may cancel MLB.TV. Dodger pitchers look pathetic. We have about 10 pitchers and players who all need a rehab assignment and let nobody except Furcal and the kids.

I'm with you E. Don't screw with Kershaw in a lost cause.

ALERT ALERT calling Kershaw.
We could use some offense too.

bear - this team may not have any aces, but it has plenty of donkeys if you catch my drift.

With the offense struggling already, it makes it even more difficult when the starters put them behind the eight ball right out of the gate.

LOL!!

Well, it looks like we'll have plenty to talk about again tomorrow...

The hardest hit ball so far has been by our pitcher

A gift. I'll take it. We need all the help we can get.

Who set up those two runs with a double? Oh, that's right, that kid who rides the pine.

WE'll take all the gifts we can get

Hey beggars can't be choosers. 'Bout time somebody gave us some runs instead of the other way around.

Now if we only had a pitcher who could hold 'em for awhile...

Well, We can fight our way back. Still can't get that timely hit when we need it

Loney should've took a pitch the way Arroyo was pitching.
Well at least we got 2 thanks to Hairston.
We're not giving them back though.

Geez Penny, walk the opposing pitcher why don't ya

KEMP!!!

Wow! Against Arroyo? Yes, but that's a great throw.

Great play, Matt

Any way you can Penny!!

Score it 8-5
KEMP to DeWITT.
Love to see that.

Why the hell Kemp is made to ride the pine, I'll never know.

Well I guess that'll buy Mr. Kemp a trip to the bench tomorrow.

What a play by Kemp and DeWitt!

That was poetic Kemp and Arroyo

Arroyo looks like he's struggling and yet he could be pitching a shutout.
Didn't Lefebvre have a fight with Lasorda?

You don't run on The Bison!!!

They're gonna stop running on Kemp.

Kemp was doing just fine in the 3 hole...batting over .300 with nine stolen bases. Why can't Torre keep from noodling with the line-up?

Penny really is a TOOL. Scary thing, he's a first half pitcher. What do we get to look forward to after the all-star break?

Note to Ned: Get what you can for Penny at the trade deadline.

Penny looks like he's been hanging out with Jelly Roll and Brazobelly. Working on a boiler of his own. He's not as slim as he was this time last year. Him and his ERA are fatter.

Man, this team has a lot of work to do. I had them pegged as a fourth place team in the start of the season, and the only thing preventing that is the fact that the Rockies and Padres are doing much, much worse.

Thank goodness DeWitt is fun to watch, and thank goodness Nomar's calf is keeping him away from DeWitt's spot.

But Penny and Lowe are not doing their part at all, and the lineup is terribly hot and cold. Kent, the only old stick left in there, is demonstrating why the young 'uns should play. ( Jones is just in an unspeakable category of his own. ) Furcal has his back trouble, and did I read somewhere his specific injury is often the first sign of a degenerative disc disease? That would be bad, bad.

Come on Dodgers, the season is still so long, I don't want to keep on dreading each game.

We have about 6 to 8 players to trade for one good power hitter.

We just need to pay half their salaries

This is like an average game for Penny.
He just has to go one more inning.

Oh, you mean we have As*es instead of Aces. That makes sense, and all of them are not pitchers. The biggest one is our GM.

Jungar--I agree with what you're saying, but if the management is willing to just eat its mistakes and play the right guys, regardless of the money they are paying, we'll be OK.
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I admit, we have not really seen the management be willing to ignore salaries and play the right guys on a lot of occassions, but tonight we have it.
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Kpookiemon is right--Kemp was doing just fine hitting third. Torre has an unhealthy fascination with fiddling with the line-up. It seems that, once Furcal comes back, we should have at least some set posts in the line-up--Furcal first, Kemp third, Jones/Pierre 8th.
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I don't know what's going on with Penny. This team can win, but we need Brad Penny if we're going to do it.

And Ethier is sitting on the bench why?????????????????

Another tough Pierre out...

There are so many levels that this team needs to rectify. Isn't conditioning supposed to be Conte's realm?

Come on Kemp, baby. a long one is needed

My Loney has a first name,
It's J-A-M-E-S
My Loney has a second name,
It's L-O-N-E-Y
I love to watch him every day
And if you ask me why I'll say
'Cause James Loney has a way
With H-I-T-T-I-N-G!

LONEY Keeps us in the game.

That's why they call him the Bison!

KEMP keeps it goin'

AND WE'RE BACK!

DeWitt baby!!!!!

Yeah, Dewitt's our man.

Note to JoJo and Ned - this is why we like to see the kids play.

Sweeney!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where the hell is DY

New game.

Hu's just overmatched by ML pitching right now.

My man DeWITT opposite field ties it up
Go going guys.

Sweeney's our #1 PH because he's SUPPOSED to be our #1 PH, just like Pierre's a lead-off hitter because he's supposed to be a lead-off hitter. Doesn't mean they have the ability to do so, its just JoJo's 1950's thinking in action.

It's be good if Penny get through the 6th

This was a strategic move by Penny. By issuing a lead-off walk to Bako, it allows Arroyo to stay in the game to bunt.
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And then Loney throws Bako out at second--it's brilliant!
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(Please pass the Kool-Aid.)

leekfink, you are funny

Torre better hit for Penny here. Sweeny's a waste of a roster spot. Let's see Pee Wee swing the stick and get something started. Pierre's absolutely useless unless there's someone on base.

This is a good time to take the lead.

I had a nice poem about the kids but I screwed it up and lost it. Too long to do over.

Good boy Joe, listen to you're man Kace.

Oh well, it was the right call regardless.

Hu definitely seems overmatched at the plate right now, but he also seems like a very intelligent ballplayer and has always hit well in the minors. I think he'll "get it" sooner or later. With Abreu in the twilight zone, Hu is the future of our middle infield.

Loney team leader now has 28 RBI
Kemp has 27.

JUANPY doing his thing.

To bad there's two out BUT
You never know.

Kemp has 20 less at bats than Loney, or he would be leading in RBI'S

Juan Pierre would be the perfect center fielder for Dusty Baker

If Dusty would take Pierre, we could throw in Andruw also

that "foul tip" and the balk is keeping this inning alive.. beimel is working..

need a big k here

Sara, Beimel is feeling your love!!! LOL

Tough inning by Beimel - gritted his teeth and got through it. Now we need a rally.

Go, Joe (Favorite Bobblehead) Beimel!
Now we need to score and make him 4-0!

That inning seemed to end at least 3 times.
Some more good stuff brought to you by Joey Beimel

Weak grounder by Kent. Now let's go kids!

Kemp gets down the first base line quick, now 4-for-4

KEMP for a guy who could hit
Sure can throw
Sure can run

Brox throwing some serious heat - he's hit 100 a couple times.

Brox is definitely the heir apparent, but no need to rush as long as Saito is doing well.

Hey crash24now, are you a Jack Bauer fan?

Please please use Maza for the ph not Sweeney the Weenie

Probably see Andruw this inning.

No, "Crash" is a nickname earned due to an unfortunate incident in my youth which involved my 1972 Monte Carlo.

Geez, I could have done that. Pinch hitter deluxe my ****!!!

Where did JoJo come from? He has the absolute worst feeling for when to throw in a lefty ph against a lefty reliever.

Juanpy does another one of his things well.

Andruw could have done better than Sweeney, well, maybe not

Hate to lose this game and fall 6 back.
Maybe we'll get a walk-off.
Broxton had a good inning
Now it's Saito.

Another fine quality AB from Sweeney... and LaRoche is in Vegas why???

Yep, ole Ned can pick'em!!

Martin Kent & Loney Let Go!!!

Bring up Laroche and Repko

Make them pay for that E-6!

We need a walk-off something or other

Air Mail. Special delivery for Marty at 2nd.

Allright, we got an other

Way to move him over, Kent!

At least Kant got him over.

Make him pay for that hubris Matty.

Let's go Blake!

Come on Kemp a 3 runs homerun would be nice or a sac.

DeWitt Please no DP.

Ouch 2 ibb Baker a whimp haha. Come on Blake

And the kid comes thru again!! Woo-Hoo!!!!

Blaaaaaaaaake! 6-for-6 with bases loaded!

If Joe replaces Dewitt, we need to tar and feather him and ride him out of town on an A**

UNREAL! L.A LOVES BLAKE DEWITT! AND WE DO TOO!

Call him Nomar Pipp cause we got BLAKE!!

Lineup for Friday and every day thereafter:
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Furcal ss
Ethier rf
Kemp cf
Loney 1b
Martin c
DeWitt 3b
Young lf
LaRoche 2b

D_e_W_I_T_T he's a witt.
It's a gift
BUT WE NEEDED IT.

kid is seriously amazing

Blake ROYYYYYYYYYYyy

I gotta hand it to that kid Dewitt, he saw an opportunity when he was brought up and he intends to stay..........
Dewitt for Rookie of the year.

that kid is something else.

how could you not love him? =)

It's late in St. Louis, Good nite guys

In all my years I can't remember a player earn is way on this team like BLAKE DE WITT